THE ARTIST ON THE COMPOSER | YORGOS LANTHIMOS

Greek National Opera – Stavros Niarchos Hall

Visual Arts Programme • New production • World premiere

Music and Visual Arts Cycle • A GNO and NEON co-production

Yorgos Lanthimos’ highly anticipated new film, Bleat –the second work to be commissioned as part of the GNO and NEON programme The Artist on the Composer– is to have its world-first premieres accompanied by live music ensembles on 6, 7 and 8 May 2022 inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the SNFCC. The Greek National Opera’s participation in the co-production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

The award-winning Greek filmmaker accepted the invitation extended by GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis and NEON Director Elina Kountouri to produce, write, and direct the short film Bleat, shot on the Greek island of Tinos in February 2020, and starring Oscar-winning American actor Emma Stone and acclaimed French actor Damien Bonnard.

The Artist on the Composer programme –run by the Greek National Opera and NEON – connects pioneering contemporary artists and filmmakers/producers with orchestral music performed live. Through works that spring from the programme’s new commissions, each artist responds to, and enters into dialogue with pieces by classical composers, free from every standard operatic convention, trope and storyline, in the hope of reaching audiences who may never have connected with opera before.

The Artist on the Composer

Following on from The Artist on the Composer’s first commission –a 2019 installation by Nikos Navridis– the gifted and internationally renowned Greek film director Yorgos Lanthimos takes on the programme’s second commission to create a new cinematic work that will always be presented with the live accompaniment of music ensembles. The work’s music script consists of pieces by J. S. Bach / Knut Nystedt and Toshio Hosokawa, performed live inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall with the participation of GNO musicians, Angelina Tkatcheva (cimbalom), and the Chorus of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.

The Artist on the Composer

Second Commission Yorgos Lanthimos: Bleat

Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

6, 7, 8 May 2022 | Start times: 18.00, 20.00, 22.00

Tickets via GNO Box Office – SNFCC and ticketservices.gr | 10 euros (in support of the Greek National Opera activities)

Main Cast & Crew:

Director, Scriptwriter & Producer | Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring | Emma Stone, Damien Bonnard
Music | Johann Sebastian Bach / Knut Nystedt, Toshio Hosokawa
With the participation of GNO musicians (Conductor | Nicolas Vassiliou)
Cimbalom | Angelina Tkatcheva
With the participation of the Chorus of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation
Chorus master | Agathangelos Georgakatos
Set designer | Anna Georgiadou
Costume designer | Angelos Mentis
Choreographer | Christos Papadopoulos
Director of photography | Thodoros Mihopoulos
Film editor | Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Executive Producer | Rebecca Skinner
Producer | Eleni Kossyfidou

The film contains nudity.

The Artist on the Composer programme curators GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis and NEON Director Elina Kountouri